Private banks said to help the rich keep $32 trillion in offshore tax havens

Private banks are helping rich families and individuals move financial assets to tax havens, a new report has said.

The report by Tax Justice Network, which campaigns against tax havens, and authored by James Henry, former chief economist at consultants McKinsey & Co names UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs as the three banks holding the most assets offshore on behalf of the global super rich.

According to the report the rich and their families have  as much as $32 trillion of hidden financial assets in offshore tax havens.

Estimating the extent of global private financial wealth held in offshore accounts – excluding non-financial assets such as real estate, gold, yachts and racehorses – the report puts the sum at between $21 and $32 trillion.

Drawing on data from the World Bank, the IMF, the United Nations, central banks, the Bank for International Settlements, and national treasuries, the report looked at 139 mostly low middle income countries.

The report estimates that since the 1970s, the richest citizens of these 139 countries had amassed $7.3 to $9.3 trillion of “unrecorded offshore wealth” by 2010.

It  also highlights the impact on the balance sheets of these countries. It shows that the rich who are keeping their wealth in tax havens are putting wealth beyond the reach of local tax authorities.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi